Can a Dr. just suddenly take you off of xanax after being precribed them for appx 6 years?

Can a Dr. just suddenly take you off of xanax after being precribed 4 a day for appx 6 years? I have a very high anxiety disorder and depression due to childhood occurances and a physically abusive marriage for 13 years. This is my 1st day without the medication and I am ready to lose my mind already, to say the least. I left his office yesterday in a panic (which is when I normally have the seizures but, I did have my doses for yesterday and even saved one for this morning when I woke up. I have been having seizures due to stress and I DO depend on the xanax to keep me from the anxiety, depression and seizures. Is this legal on his part? I take the medication as prescribed, I have never tested positive for anything else, I have already had TWO CT's and an MRI per his (The Dr.'s) request and now he wants to do a brain wave test but, wants me off the xanax for the wave test. I walked out because he had already taken from me the only thing I have found that works and there is NOTHING wrong with my brain, it all stems from my past. What should I do? And is this legal for him to abruptly stop the xanax at the drop of a hat with NO Notice, No weaning off, no substitute, NOTHING!!! Especially when xanax is the ONLY thing that works for me?

Added 14 Jul 2010:

I guess I should add that I am a 42 yr old female, Mother of 3, ages 26 (girl) 19 (boy) and 13 yr (girl). I was physically and sexually abused as a child, I was physically abused for 13 yrs by my husband, I'm currently a Criminal Justice student, I have been through Micro-computer Accounting and Medical Office Specialist. Why would he even think there would be something wrong with my brain and after the tests I have already had, why does he see the need to continue with more tests? Clearly, I have explained my life to him, is it so hard for him to understand that thoughts of my past haunt me and cause my stress, anxiety and seizures??!! Lord Help Him and I both!! He is a quack that I will NEVER return to.

Responses (6)

Well , i know your mad at your doctor and he shouldnt cut you off you can have seizure or go into coma , sadly yes he can most doctors will stop suddenly if he thinks your becoming addicted if your having seizures on xanax i dont think thats suppose happen and might need be put on seizure med along with longer acting benzo like valium xanax is good but for anxiety like yours if u have be on benzo valium is best lasts 6 hrs unlike xanax that lasts 2-4hrs . I would find another doctor asap ... you dont want stop suddenly or it gets bad fast and id say your addicted really bad just by hearing your statement .

As for all tests he is doing i had samething done mine was because xanax stopped working and needed higher dose but i refuse to depend on something even though i have alot problems i also had brain wave he is trying to role out whats going on in your head are you forgetting stuff? i was lose in feeling in feet , id guess hes also trying fig out y these seizures are happening and i dont think its cause stress you prob having them because you need higher dose xanax your body prob withdrawling iam no doctor just went through what you are and had every test done all fine its just xanax its evil drug either stay on it and get higher dose or ask a doctor to taper you off and get on anti depr to help deal with your anxiety . well good luck

Nikicole... I appreciate your comment... absolutely, I am addicted, My best friend is a nurse, you can become addicted after 5 days of being on them. (according to he and other research I have done) BUT, the thing is, they are the only thing that helps with the anxiety disorder. They also help me relax when I'm in a depressed or stressed state of mind (stress and anxiety... never fails brings on the seizures. I am seeing another Doctor. Seriously, he was/is a quack and any Dr that prescribes a benzo, opiate, whatever the case may be knows before he even writes the prescription that, that person is going to become addicted. They are Dr's for heaven's sake. They should be warning us about this sort of thing but, I knew about that before I even cashed in my first prescription. I knew the risk I was taking but, I was sick of the anxiety, stress, seizures and depression.

I needed to get my life back with my kids and most of all I needed help!! I tried counseling too, Couseling does NOT work for my needs. As for finding another Dr... Yes, I wasn't even out of his building and I was calling another Dr. because I know I can NOT go without this medication, either I am going to have seizure after seizure or I am going to die. There are two drugs you die withdrawing from~ Alcohol and xanax! I have 3 children to live for and I have a career ahead of me. I'm NOT ready to die and there is NOTHING wrong with my brain. If there were,don't you think they would have found it in the TWO Cat Scans or the MRI??? Maybe some blood work because they have done plenty of that too!! Thank You for your response, I am open to any and all answers, suggestions, alternatives (if they work). As it is now thought, Xanax is my solution and until I find an alternative, that is where I will stay. Respectfully...

I agree with you and I am going to see a psych doctor on Thurs because i did read where someone had mentioned how they kill off the brain cells. Trust me, I need all the brains cells I have left for the classes I am taking but so far, so good. I am maintaining with an A!!! Whoooo Hooo, I don't want to be dependent on drugs either. I have never been one to take pills but, these have gotten out of hand I do believe they are the cause of my seizures!! I appreciate ALL The feedback and I will continue to check back. Thanks again to all of your responses!!! It was helpful and gave me a lot to think about!!!

Hey there nicki its michelle i left you a answer at your private question you asked me! and incognito 1218 please listen to nicki she has gone through alot being taken off the benzos suddenly and knows alot about it.

I also think because you are going to school you want all the brain cells you can handle so you might want to quit the benzos(xanax)just for that reason. Xanax can be very damaging to ones brains. Good luck!

I can't focus without the xanax, I become stressed and then anxiety kicks in, next thing I know my house is full of paramedics insisting that I go to the hospital. GOD blessed me with an anxiety disorder, stress and depression, don't ask me why but, once I get through school, I have every intention on getting off the xanax. I can't preach what I don't practice now can I?? ha ha!! My dream job is to work with teens/kids that are addicted to drugs and have legal issues or both!!! So, once my life is in order maybe the stress, anxiety and depression will go the hell away! I NEVER took an aspirin for a headache until I was 36 yrs old. I hated pills and swore I would never take them but, they work for now and now is what I need to get through. Thank you for your feedback!! I appreciate it.

I know its hard iam not saying to stop taking them you have to want to.No reason to get all worked up , it is legal though for your doctor to cut you off . Its his decision most doctors for some reason now a days are doing that more and more its not right they should atleast taper them . I used love my xanax to it always saved me and i have daughter who i cant physically take care of right now because i was detoxed off way to fast .You might not have anything wronge with your brain now but only matter time , when your on benzos like the doctor told me its just like you drinking thats how bad they affect your thinking and slow down your brain.

So if u have use benzo i would use valium , i hated when people preach to me to i know where u r coming from , iam just trying help you if you want get off benzo in future another reason valium would be better atleast give it shot , maybe get on anti depr too do some research on them find one that fits you . I have panic attacks alot but i can control them i taught myself how its not easy but its mind over matter i even have them at home i never had these until i was on xanax so i think it was xanax that caused them . Everyone is different best thing i can say is do what your body tells you and find new doctor not quack lol good luck

I have a NEW found disorder FINALLY in 2001 called Misophonia, meaning "hatred of sound" < thats a good one but w/e. So im not hearing that BS either make something better, anxiety passes down in families and so do other things SO DR's SUCK IT BIG TIME AND THE COMPANIES YOU GET YOUR DRUGS FROM!

All I have to say is that you can become dependent on all of these medications. The point is to find the best medication that works for you. If Xanax including a stabilizing rx works, why change it? You take me off of Effexor xr, I will withdrawal. My body has come dependent on this medication. I don't have a craving for Xanax. I take as needed when my anxiety or if my anxiety hits it's peak. But it works. It helps me (along with my Effexor) be me again. I suffer from ocpd and ptsd. This combo is the only one I have found that hasn't made my ocpd go away just to manifest in another way... This is my life, this is who I am. I need the help and so do so many other people. Also I started therapy. Do I hope to maybe one day get off.. Yes... But do I notice my ocpd and ptsd just find another way to intrude my life? Yes. I want to be healthy and happy..

I think your doctor should lose his liscense. My doctor had me on 2mg of xanax and 4mg of Clonazepam. He wasn't the one that took me off of it overnight but a psychiatrist in a hospital did. She gave me two teeny tiny doses of Librium for two days and then wondered why I went crazy. I was admitted to that hospital for a suicidal threat. It had nothing to do with my medication, beside the fact that my bf was giving it to his friends. I think its bull shit. When someone is suicidal, those are the last medications that should be discontinued.

It's just a terrible abuse to do that to you (all on it's own) & then knowing your past... Sounds like he was getting his rocks off on his misuse of power.. (A TOTAL SICKO). I'm so sorry to hear thats what another human being could or would do to another... Well, who knows, maybe there's a greater purpose for people that suffer in their life time. You will be great @ your courier(that), I am sure of. ( :I to have been in that situation, I feel alive now because of it= AWAKE

a lot of times it takes bad things to happen to us unfornitely, to give us that alive feeling. If you think about it how can you ttuly say i am happy, if u never fealt happy, you wouldnt recognize as a feeling that you now find is enjloyable. Sadly like most things in life there is a polar opposite, this case being sadness, wouldnt be great to go through life and say i've never felt sad, pain or unhappy, either we have a walking miracle "an angel if you will a,ong us" because to feel or beilive in one aspect this case feeling happy again, one must feel the opposite of happy, sad, depressed, hurt, lonely, one must sometimes go through those unpleasant emotions to be able to know what happy feels like or excitement and joy. and yes the scond aspect i'm sorry to another person caused you yhis pain and discomfort and am happy you now have an open book a new chapter of your life to write no suffering, and like you said at the end through it all you still came out ahead and feel awake, shows how stong you are as a person, best of luck.

It is terrible what people in authority can have the power to do to someones life, i have been there myslef as i watch doctors try to control my life with no care or regard to what the meds made me feel like or vice versa how bad i felt off someone of them and yes they ar out there they have god complexes cuz they know they can alter a persons life with one strokje of a pen, and with obama care coming, doctos arent happy thses days and i'v pesronally been a victim of a doctor just having a bad day. i had been on klonopin, lexapro and norco for at least 18 months and he stops the norco cold turkey and droped the klonopin to a 1/3 of my dose, i had a rough two weeks til i found another doc, no scleep, just agony, so i feel your pain, its not fair nor is it looked at by those who should be monitorinf doctors.

Hi, I was just trying to get answers to all my problems I am facing now. I hear you and totally understand what your going through because this is the feeling im getting and going through without xanax. I feel like throwing myself out of the window, I go crazy when im not popping in xanax, my mind my hands my body I cannot explain to others unless you arein the situation. It's easier saidthen done after 9 years of xanax. Started of with 0.5 mg 3 times daily n it doesn't work much so I self medicate 8 to 9 mg a day.Im losing memory my anger was such that I was ready to kill anyone who annoys me. Finally a week back I went to A&E n told them whats happening. My doctor give me 2weeks. Only 2 weeks to get rid of xanax n put me on propranolol and Fluoxotine.

He said it would help alot to ease my anxiety but NO it doesnt though I fight to be positive and went to 2mg of xanax daily. But I cannot stop it totally. I want to live I want my life back. Pls help.